Various – Ambient Not Not Ambient – Audio Dregs(Not a very good comp. Only a few standout tracks among the eighteen on offer—the Christ Herbert and Yellow Swans are winners but the rest just sound like outtakes and scraps that never made it on full albums)

Off The Sky & Juxta Phone – Escape Kit – Somnia Sounds(Jazz crafted collages that work to some extent. Some songs have a groove and others just seem to leave me longing for more. However the bonus track “10” is 34 minutes long and for my taste the best one on the album)

Brain Grainger – Milk Plus – Second Sun(Not very good….others pills in this ongoing series have worked wonderfully. This one however just seems to be there….a long 20 something drone affair. It seemed like I fell asleep next to my refrigerator)

On Now:Oneohtrix Point Never/Andrew Kirschner – Heart Of A Champion – Mistake By The Lake(Super cool “New Age” sounds from Oneohtrix Point Never that seems to be ripping it at the moment. I like this a lot but I know that some will bash the sounds and probably label it as a cheesy 80’s ambient affair)

In regards to the Fabio Orsi – Audio For Lovers – Last Visible Dog(His best release yet! If you liked it I highly highly recommend you pick up his release on Locus of Assemblage “Birds Are Smart But They Cannot Speak”)

Color Dream – Live In The Sky – Young Tapes(The artists described this as “sky age dreaming.” And you know what I wholeheartedly agree. It’s a new group with a lo-fi drone style infused with likes of crows and waves of racecars slashing through the haze. I like this very much and would hope that some of these artists would begin releasing music on CD. Apparently they have a new release available via Digitalis at the moment but once again it is a cassette)

Busso De La Lune – Stream Endlessly – Umbra(Busso has a unique sound that is hard to compare. This release in particular incorporates a vast diversity of sounds from ethno, drones, fractal, etc. Yet he takes these sounds into directions that many ambient musicians have not. It seems dark but then it seems ethereal. The man is hard to pinpoint but no matter what I always seem to come back to his releases)

On Now:Tobias Hellkvist & Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words – White/Gray/Black – It’s A Trap(Wow….this was a free download and the quality is superb. I hope we have future collaborations between these artists. Simply the best download of the year so far! As a matter of fact one of the best releases of the year period! Get it here http://www.itsatrap.com/)

Yep, I'd have to agree that the new Orsi (Audio for Lovers) is a really nice one, even with the overlap with his prior 3" releases. The only Orsi releases that haven't done that much for me are "Wildflowers Under the Sofa" and "Find Electronica," both of which sounded like 5 minute pieces stretched to album length. "Audio for Lovers" reminded me in places of mid-70s instrumental Eno and maybe even Laraaji's "Day of Radiance" (Ambient 3) album.

Been enjoying Haruomi Hosono's new CD (Archives No. 1), which compares favorably with his ambient work in the mid-80s.

Faryus – Lucid Circles – Faria Records(Subdued tone haze for a goodnight sleep. It reminds me of Jonathan Broaddus “4 at 18” if anyone remembers that album. Although I do think this release is much better than his collaborations with Robert Rich and Oophoi)

Steve Young – Wedge Of Light – Young Tapes(Steve is one half of the duo known as Color Dreams which I mentioned earlier in the thread. This tape features two tracks of extended environmental drone. In certain parts it reminds me of old works from Klaus Wiese and Mathias Grassow. It seems lately some of the best music I have been encountering is only available on cassette? As strange as it seems I cant get enough of Emeralds, Mark McGuire, Steve Hauschildt, Treetops, Emaciator, Taiga Remains, Rale, Xiphidaee, Oneohtrix Point Never, etc)

Pan American – The River Made No Sound – Kranky(I love listening to this CD on gloomy autumn afternoons. By the way does anyone know if he has a new album on the horizon?)

steve roach + byron metcalf + mark seelig - nada terma(has been some time that a Roach album hits me like this.. i like it very much, the percussions are simply great and to me quite entrancing to the mix..)

Various – Ambient Not Not Ambient – Audio Dregs(Not a very good comp. Only a few standout tracks among the eighteen on offer—the Christ Herbert and Yellow Swans are winners but the rest just sound like outtakes and scraps that never made it on full albums)

I have to agree—I like a track here and there (Chris Herbert, Grouper, White Rainbow), but as a whole it's quite lousy.

Some recent stuff:

v/a—Exercises in ObscurismNice Second Sun compilation, though it's a bit uneven. Some great ambient tracks mixed with a few noisier ones that don't always gel. I no longer buy CDRs, but I've been making exceptions for the Second Sun/Milieu releases, because I always enjoy them.

Hakobune—We Left the Window Open SometimesI like the Hakobune records I've gotten, but don't love them. The track on the David Tagg split is excellent, but the full-lengths, to me, are simply decent room fillers and not ultimately memorable. I've never seen a CD packaged like this one on Symbolic Interaction—it's this weird mechanical jewel case; very cool.

Eluder—The Most Beautiful BlueThere have been some great ambient records this year, but I think this one is my favorite thus far. Absolutely outstanding. Similar to the Northern CD on Infraction but a bit more environmental.

Benoit Pioulard—TemperI've played this repeatedly for about three weeks now. Incredible ambient pop, and way better than his first one, which was also excellent.

Well, after over half a year of waiting, my copy of Natural Snow Buildings, "The Dance and the Moon and Sun" finally arrived. It was worth it (if you are into improvisational psychedelia, as I am). The 2 bonus 3" CDRs are great, too (though they were only available for preorders).